Tree fruit or nut harvester to minimize machine passes in the orchard

ABSTRACT

The present invention relates to a harvesting machine comprising a shaking mechanism operable to shake fruit or nuts from a tree or bush; a deflection plate for directing the fruit or nuts to an area away from the base of the tree or bush; and a device for moving fruit or nuts from the base of the tree or bush to the area away from the base of the tree or bush. The deflection plate may be positioned at an angle of between 0° to about 75° relative to the horizontal.

FIELD OF INVENTION

This invention devises a method to minimize the required machine passesin an orchard by placement and/or relocation of the nuts and tree fruitby the initial harvesting operation.

BACKGROUND

Conventional methods for harvesting nuts like almonds, walnuts or pecansutilize a machine often called a tree shaker. The tree shaker grabs thetree either on the trunk or limb and vibrates the tree causing the nutsto fall to the ground. Next, a sweeper passes through and performs twooperations: 1) Sweeps the nuts into a windrow and 2) Blows the nuts offof the tree row into the adjacent row. The blowing process helps removenuts from the tree row or under the tree that are difficult to reach bya mechanical device. Once the nuts are swept into a windrow, a “pick-up”machine comes by and picks up the nuts, cleans them from dirt, leavesand sticks and then deposits them into a bin.

The process of taking the tree fruit or nut out of the tree and into abin is not only labor intensive but also creates a lot of air born dust.It is apparent that a need exists for an improved method that not onlyreduces the amount of labor involved but also reduces the amount of dustcreated.

It is an object of the present invention to reduce or completelyeliminate a separate sweeping operation. It is also an object of thepresent invention to provide a more environmentally friendly method ofharvesting tree fruit or nuts. A further object of the present inventionis to reduce the cost of labor to harvest the tree fruit or nuts.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The method and the system of this invention center on the concept ofincorporating functions into a tree nut harvester so that the harvesternot only removes fruit from the tree but also moves the crop away fromthe tree for ease of subsequent retrieval. Current machines in theindustry either remove the fruit and let it drop directly to the ground,or remove and catch the fruit without allowing it to ever touch theground. This invention is a variation of those two. The intent is toremove the crop, and strategically place it on the ground where it candry before being taken out of the field.

A key feature of this invention is the deflector frame. This deflectoris intended to prevent the removed crop from falling into the tree rowarea. This area is difficult to clean with the sweepers that arecommonly used in the industry. The deflector would shed the harvestedfruit off to the side of the tree row where it is readily available formoving into a windrow or possibly picked up from its originaldestination.

The harvesting apparatus of the present invention may include a shakermechanism for grasping and shaking a tree to dislodge fruit or tree nutsfrom their attachment to the tree. The shaker mechanism may be a slidercrank mechanism, which may or may not be an inertia type shaker, thatprovides a linear shaking motion, or a mechanism that uses rotatingeccentric masses which normally do not provide linear motion. Inembodiments utilizing a linear inertial shaker, motion may be generatedby a piston rod-handle system or just by the vibration produced by aneccentric mass in rotation to generate a linear motion. In otherembodiments, the shaker mechanism may utilize the rotation of eccentricweight wheels to shake a tree in multiple directions to createvibrations in the tree to dislodge a crop (e.g., fruit or nut) form thetree. For example, and without limitation, this type of vibration iscarried out by the superposition of the frequencies produced by 2 or 3wheels, with eccentric masses that rotate typically with a frequencybetween 10 and 40 Hz, accelerating the fruits to separate them from thetrees.

Another feature of this invention, the tree row cleaner, is a blower onthe harvester which would move any fruit that had fallen in the tree rowarea before the harvester got there. This is a naturally occurring eventdue to inconsistent ripening of the fruit and weather events such aswind. These previously fallen fruit are often termed “windfall”. Anotherembodiment of the tree row cleaning could be by mechanical means such asa rotary brush which moves in and out of the tree row.

An added feature of this invention to be considered would be a“windrowing attachment”. The windrowing device may be a sweeping headsimilar to what is found on a conventional nut sweeper. The windrowingdevice could also be a rotating brush or brushes. The windrowingattachment would use mechanical means to move the “windfall” fruit alongthe ground directly ahead of the harvester and into a windrow.

In some embodiments, the present invention relates to a harvestingmachine comprising a shaking mechanism operable to shake fruit or nutsfrom a tree or bush; a deflection plate for directing the fruit or nutsto an area away from the base of the tree or bush; and a device formoving fruit or nuts from the base of the tree or bush to the area awayfrom the base of the tree or bush. The deflection plate may bepositioned at an angle of between 0° to about 75° relative to thehorizontal (e.g., between about 5° to about 50°, between about 10° toabout 40°, or any value or range of values therein). The deflectionplate may include a slot for positioning around a trunk or center of thetree or bush. The harvesting machine may further include a blowingmechanism for directing the fruit or nuts away from row in which thetree or bush is positioned. The device for moving the fruit or nuts fromthe base of the tree or bush may be a brush having a plane of rotationthat is substantially parallel to the horizontal. The brush may have aportion operable to contact the ground near the base of the tree or bushwhile the shaking mechanism is engaged with the tree or bush.

In further embodiments, the present invention relates to a harvestingmachine comprising a shaking mechanism operable to shake fruit or nutsfrom a tree or bush; and a deflection plate for directing the fruit ornuts to an area away from the base of the tree or bush. The harvestingmachine may further include a device for moving fruit or nuts from thebase of the tree or bush to the area away from the base of the tree orbush. The deflection plate may be positioned at an angle of betweenabout 0° to about 75° relative to the horizontal (e.g., between about 5°to about 50°, between about 10° to about 40°, or any value or range ofvalues therein). The deflection plate may include a slot for positioningaround a trunk or center of the tree or bush. The harvesting machine mayfurther include a blowing mechanism for directing the fruit or nuts awayfrom row in which the tree or bush is positioned. The device for movingthe fruit or nuts from the base of the tree or bush may be a brushhaving a plane of rotation that is substantially parallel to thehorizontal. The brush may have a portion operable to contact the groundnear the base of the tree or bush while the shaking mechanism is engagedwith the tree or bush.

In still further embodiments, the present invention relates to a methodof harvesting comprising attaching a shaking mechanism operable to shakefruit or nuts from a tree or bush; positioning a deflection plate fordirecting the fruit or nuts to an area away from the base of the tree orbush; activating the shaking mechanism to vibrate the tree or bush; andactivating a mechanism for moving the fruit or nuts away from the baseof the tree or bush to the area away from the base of the tree or bush.The deflection plate may be positioned at an angle of between about 0°to about 75° relative to the horizontal (e.g., between about 5° to about50°, between about 10° to about 40°, or any value or range of valuestherein). The deflection plate may include a slot for positioning arounda trunk or center of the tree or bush. The method may further comprisingblowing the fruit or nuts away from row in which the tree or bush ispositioned using a blowing mechanism. The mechanism for moving the fruitor nuts from the base of the tree or bush may be a brush having a planeof rotation that is substantially parallel to the horizontal. The brushmay have a portion operable to contact the ground near the base of thetree or bush while the shaking mechanism is engaged with the tree orbush.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

A clear understanding of the key features of the invention summarizedabove may be had by reference to the appended drawings, which illustratethe method and system of the invention, although it will be understoodthat such drawings depict preferred embodiments of the invention and,therefore, are not to be considered as limiting its scope with regard toother embodiments which the invention is capable of contemplating.Accordingly:

FIG. 1 is an illustration of a typical planted orchard and the area thatis being considered as the tree row 102.

FIG. 2 is an illustration showing the first pass a conventional sweeper109 will make in the sweeping operation. The first part of the windrow104 is being created with this first pass which includes sweeping andblowing. The carpet of nuts 103 left by a conventional harvester.

FIG. 3 is an illustration showing the second pass a conventional sweeper109 will make in the sweeping operation, this is a sweeping and blowingpass. The first part of the swept windrow 104 is being created on theother side of the tree row with this second pass.

FIG. 4 is an illustration showing the third pass, sweeping only, which aconventional sweeper 109 will make. This pass will complete one of thetwo swept windrows 104.

FIG. 5 is an illustration showing the fourth and final pass aconventional sweeper 109 will make in the sweeping operation. Thissweeping only pass will complete the second of the two swept windrows104.

FIG. 6 is an illustration summarizing the four separate sweeper passesused to create 2 separate windrows 104 in two adjacent rows. The fourpasses include a first pass 1 in a first row to sweep fruit or nuts inreach of a sweeper head and brush into a windrow 104 a and blow fruit ornuts out of the reach of the brushes into an adjacent row, a second pass2 in a second row to sweep fruit or nuts in reach of a sweeper head andbrush into a second windrow 104 b and blow fruit or nuts out of reach ofthe brushes into the adjacent row, a third pass 3 to sweep fruit or nutsin the second row into windrow 104 b, and a fourth pass 4 to sweep fruitor nuts in the first row into the windrow 104 a.

FIG. 7 is a picture of what is referred to as a swept windrow 104. Thisis typically what is left after a sweeper pushes the nuts while on theground into a long row in between the tree rows.

FIG. 8 is an illustration of the method and system of this inventionshowing a simplified end view of the harvester in the position to shakeor vibrate the tree. The harvester 100 in this picture has a canopy 107of the machine which is used to deflect the tree fruit or nuts away fromthe tree row 102. The attached blower 101 moves the fruit in the treerow 102 that were there prior to the harvester shaking the tree. As aresult, a deflected windrow 108, is created from deflecting and blowingthe tree fruit or nuts. The deflected windrow 108 is not necessarily astight and organized as a swept windrow 104, but its relative position tothe tree row 102 allows it to either be picked up or swept with lesspasses. The red arrows in the illustration depict the travel of thefruit from the tree to the deflected windrow 108 and from the ground tothe deflected windrow 108 via the blower 101.

FIG. 9 is an illustration of the method and system of this inventionshowing a simplified isometric view of the harvester in the position toshake or vibrate the tree. The harvester 100 in this picture has acanopy 107 on the machine which is used to deflect the tree fruit ornuts away from the tree row 102. The resulting deflected windrow 108 isshown in its progression as a result of the system of this invention.The deflected windrow 108 is not only being developed by the deflectednuts off of the canopy 107 but also the blower 101 moving windfall fruitoff of the tree row 102.

FIG. 10 is an illustration of the front view of the method and system ofthis invention with the addition of a mechanical tree row cleaner, 105,and the windrowing device, 106. This tree row cleaner could be a rotarybrush 105 located on the machine as shown. This rotary brush 105 wouldbe used to move the nuts away from the tree row 102. The windrowingdevice 106 could be a sweeper head which would create the resultingswept windrow 104 as shown. The carpet of tree fruit 103 is the resultof the harvester 100 displacing the tree fruit from its host.

FIG. 11 is a rear view of the same system shown in FIG. 10 with adepiction of the deflected windrow 108 being created on the oppositeside of the harvester 100. The blower 101, is also assisting in creatingthe deflected windrow 108, by blowing windfall off of the tree row 102.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Referring to FIG. 3, the harvester 100 is shown in the normal positionto shake or vibrate the tree. The harvester 100 is considered anymachine or device used to displace the tree fruit or nuts from its host.The tree row 102 has tree fruit or nuts 103 on it that have eitherfallen from the tree due to natural occurrences from things like wind orrain or from the process of shaking the tree. In order to be picked upthe tree fruit or nuts 103 need to be moved out from under the tree 102and into the center of the windrow 104. In this case a “tree row” 102can vary in different sizes and shapes, and may be flat. In essence thetree row 102 would be the strip of soil where the tree grows and inbetween each tree down the tree row.

A deflection plate 107 above the harvester 100 would assist in reducingor eliminating the need for additional sweeping passes. The deflectionplate 107 may be angled such that tree fruit or nuts shaken a tree orbush may be deflected out of the tree line and into the adjacent accesspath where the fruit or nuts can be easily accessed by a windrowingmachine. By manipulating the location of the tree fruit or nuts after ithas been displaced from its host but before it reaches the ground, theneed to move the nuts out of the tree row 102 by mechanical or airpressure mechanism is reduced. As a result, with a reduction in groundengagement needed to move the tree fruit or nuts 103, the dust createdin the sweeping/blowing operation is also reduced.

The harvester 100 may include additional mechanisms for moving fruit ornuts out of the tree row 102. The deflection plate 107 may be assistedin the movement of the fruit or nuts out of the tree row 102 byadditional devices for moving the fruit or nuts 103. The deflectionplate 107 may allow some of the fruit or nuts to land in the tree row102 and some fruit and nuts 103 fall before the harvester 100 engagesand shakes the tree or bush. The remaining fruit and nuts 103 may bemoved out of the tree row 102 by one or more additional mechanisms. Insome embodiments, the harvester 100 may include a blower 101. The blower101 may be a centrifugal fan blower, rated to deliver an approximate airflow in a range of 1,500 CFM to about 5000 CFM. However, any fan, suitedto industrial use with the desired performance characteristics, could beutilized. The blower 101 may be positioned on the harvester 100 suchthat its air flow is directed across the tree row 102, such that it aidsin moving the fruit or nuts into the adjacent access path on the otherside of the tree row 102.

The harvester 100 may include a brush 105 and/or a sweeping head 106,which may move the tree fruit or nuts that are on the ground in the treerow 102 into a windrow in the access pass down which the harvester 100.The brush 105 and/or sweeping head 106 may be oriented are able to bemoved into a windrow in a location where a pick-up machine can pick upthe tree fruit or nuts, thus eliminating the need for a separatesweeper. The harvester 100 may include a brush 105 that is angled withrespect to the longitudinal axis of the harvester 100 such that thefruit and nuts on the ground are moved toward a central area of theaccess path to form a windrow 104. The brush 105 may include a revolvingset of bars (“revolving bar assembly”) that are each connected by pivotsat each end to two parallel rotating hubs, where each bar includes adescending brush-like set of tines. The hubs may rotate in parallelvertical planes that are oblique to the longitudinal axis of thesweeper. The transfer brush is connected to one of the hubs and rotateswith the hub in a third rotational plane that is parallel to therotational planes of the hubs and may be oblique to the longitudinalaxis of the sweeper. The length of each of the revolving bars is obliqueto the surface of the hubs. The revolving bars may rotate with the hubsand also orbit around an axis that is oblique relative to thelongitudinal axis of the sweeper and rotational planes of the hubs. Therevolving bar assembly transfers the nuts toward a windrow as the tinebrushes of each bar successively push the nuts in a direction that isparallel to the rotational plane of the hubs. Other forms of brushes maybe utilized in the sweeper 100 as well.

The sweeping head 106 may have circular shaped brush with radiallypositioned bristles, and may rotate around axis of the circular shape.The circular brush may be rotatably mounted on an armature that holdsthe brush at a distance to the body of the harvester 100 and such thatthe circular brush is adjacent to brush 105. The circular brush mayrotate approximately parallel and in close proximity to the groundsurface, and may be tilted to contact the ground surface at an outeredge of the circular brush. The circular brush may be operable tocollect fruit or nuts 103 from the tree row 102 and transfer them tobrush 105. The brush 105 may then transfer the fruit or nuts 103 to awindrow 104, in preparation for a “pick-up” machine to complete theharvesting operation. The blower 101, brush 105 and/or sweeping head 106is attached, pulled, pushed or somehow linked to the harvester 100.

The scope of the present invention may include any combination of theblower 101, brush 105, and sweeping head 106. The scope of the presentinvention also includes variations on the blower 101, brush 105, andsweeping head 106 described herein. Any device that moves the tree fruitor nuts with the force of air, mechanical manipulation or the likesthereof off of the tree row 102 once the tree fruit or nut reaches theground may be substituted for those devices described herein withrespect to the blower 101, brush 105, and sweeping head 106.

Although the above example refers to the specific embodiments providedin the figures, it is to be appreciated that the present inventionencompasses other embodiments that those shown in the figures. It is tobe understood that variations and modifications of the present inventionmay be made without departing from the scope thereof. It is to beappreciated that the features disclosed herein may be used differentcombinations and permutations with each other, all falling within thescope of the present invention. It is also to be understood that thepresent invention is not to be limited by the specific embodimentsdisclosed herein, but only in accordance with the appended claims whenread in light of the foregoing specification.

What is claimed:
 1. A harvesting machine comprising: a. a shakingmechanism operable to shake fruit or nuts from a tree or bush; b. adeflection plate for directing said fruit or nuts to an area away fromthe base of said tree or bush; and c. a device for moving fruit or nutsfrom the base of the tree or bush to said area away from the base ofsaid tree or bush.
 2. The machine of claim 1, wherein said deflectionplate is positioned at an angle of between 0° to about 75° relative tothe horizontal.
 3. The machine of claim 2, wherein said deflection platecomprises a slot for positioning around a trunk or center of said treeor bush.
 4. The machine of claim 1, further comprising a blowingmechanism for directing said fruit or nuts away from row in which saidtree or bush is positioned.
 5. The machine of claim 1, wherein saiddevice for moving said fruit or nuts from the base of the tree or bushis a brush having a plane of rotation that is substantially parallel tothe horizontal
 6. The machine of claim 6, where is said brush has aportion operable to contact the ground near the base of the tree or bushwhile said shaking mechanism is engaged with said tree or bush.
 7. Aharvesting machine comprising: a. a shaking mechanism operable to shakefruit or nuts from a tree or bush; and b. a deflection plate fordirecting said fruit or nuts to an area away from the base of said treeor bush.
 8. The machine of claim 7, further comprising a device formoving fruit or nuts from the base of the tree or bush to said area awayfrom the base of said tree or bush.
 9. The machine of claim 7, whereinsaid deflection plate is positioned at an angle of between 0° to about75° relative to the horizontal.
 10. The machine of claim 9, wherein saiddeflection plate comprises a slot for positioning around a trunk orcenter of said tree or bush.
 11. The machine of claim 7, furthercomprising a blowing mechanism for directing said fruit or nuts awayfrom row in which said tree or bush is positioned.
 12. The machine ofclaim 8, wherein said device for moving said fruit or nuts from the baseof the tree or bush is a brush having a plane of rotation that issubstantially parallel to the horizontal
 13. The machine of claim 12,where is said brush has a portion operable to contact the ground nearthe base of the tree or bush while said shaking mechanism is engagedwith said tree or bush.
 14. A method of harvesting comprising: a.attaching a shaking mechanism operable to shake fruit or nuts from atree or bush; b. positioning a deflection plate for directing said fruitor nuts to an area away from the base of said tree or bush; c.activating said shaking mechanism to vibrate said tree or bush; and d.activating a mechanism for moving said fruit or nuts away from the baseof the tree or bush to said area away from the base of said tree orbush.
 15. The method of claim 14, wherein said deflection plate ispositioned at an angle of between 0° to about 75° relative to thehorizontal.
 16. The method of claim 15, wherein said deflection platecomprises a slot for positioning around a trunk or center of said treeor bush.
 17. The method of claim 14, further comprising blowing saidfruit or nuts away from row in which said tree or bush is positionedusing a blowing mechanism.
 18. The method of claim 14, wherein saidmechanism for moving said fruit or nuts from the base of the tree orbush is a brush having a plane of rotation that is substantiallyparallel to the horizontal
 19. The method of claim 19, where is saidbrush has a portion operable to contact the ground near the base of thetree or bush while said shaking mechanism is engaged with said tree orbush.